Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 654 Internal Strife Among the Rebels
The fighting ended in March, and in April, as the weather warmed and the snow melted, coupled with the Ottomans' deliberate sabotage of roads, transportation in northern Bulgaria became difficult.

Moreover, the Russian army still deployed a considerable number of soldiers to defend the bridgehead on the south bank of the Danube, which they had captured with great difficulty. The Ottomans only needed to bombard this area every day to wipe out a large number of people.

However, the Russian army's progress was not presented in the same light domestically. Newspapers proclaimed that the Russian army had broken through the Danube and would reach the outskirts of Constantinople within three months. Given Russia's low literacy rate, simply having the church publicize the victory was enough to convince the people.

The Third Bureau also sprang into action, arresting those with differing opinions. Now was the time for the great Russian Empire to liberate Constantinople; how could it tolerate heresy?
But no matter how well Russia portrayed itself internally, the Bulgarian insurgents were already on the brink of life and death.

Two months have passed since the Bulgarian uprising began. In early March, the insurgents captured major cities such as Sofia, Veliko Tarvono, and Burgas, reaching the height of their power.

However, the Russian army was slow to cross the Danube, leaving the insurgents without any external support. Serbia, hampered in its efforts to join forces with Montenegro, also refused to provide assistance. The Ottomans seized the opportunity to launch a counter-offensive.

Instead of a full-scale offensive, the Ottoman army took advantage of its inland operations and relatively convenient transportation, concentrating its elite troops to first sever the connections between the main centers of the uprising, such as Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo. A strict blockade was particularly imposed on Veliko Tarnovo, located inland, effectively isolating it and preventing it from receiving supplies and support from Sofia or the Black Sea coast.

Moreover, while the rebels were in high spirits, they were poorly equipped, lacked heavy weapons, and their tactics were primarily guerrilla warfare and holding towns. The Ottoman regular army, on the other hand, was equipped with standard weaponry, including breech-loading rifles, machine guns, and light field artillery. In sieges, Ottoman artillery played a crucial role, systematically destroying the rebel walls and fortifications, followed by infantry assaults. In open field battles, the Ottoman army used cavalry for reconnaissance and flanking maneuvers, while the infantry formed skirmish lines, advancing steadily under fire cover and gradually shrinking the rebels' operational space.

However, simple military suppression can only be effective in the short term and can easily sow deeper seeds of hatred. Therefore, a more sophisticated and far-sighted political offensive is launched simultaneously with military operations.

In Bulgarian cities not occupied, the government posted notices widely and sent representatives to reiterate and concretize the principles of the Bosnian autonomy decree to the Bulgarian people.

They stated that a Bulgarian-majority provincial council could be established to manage local education, taxation, and some judicial affairs; Bulgarian would become one of the official languages ​​of the region; and freedom of religion would be fully guaranteed.

This rhetoric precisely targeted the reality that the insurgents were not a monolithic entity. Many Bulgarians who participated in the uprising did not initially demand complete independence, but rather to escape past oppression and fight for better rights and status. When the Ottoman government presented a seemingly feasible plan for autonomy, the legitimacy and necessity of the uprising began to waver.

As for Bulgarian local gentry and religious figures, they were promised important seats and a voice in future autonomous bodies, and that their property and status would be guaranteed, even more so than in the chaotic state of the uprising.

Regardless of the specifics, the promises were made first, and how they would be fulfilled after the event would depend on the government's approval. Meanwhile, the Patriarch of Constantinople, in gratitude to the Sultan, took action. Antimus IV declared that if the rebels did not cease their activities, he, as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, would excommunicate them. Simultaneously, the restored Bulgarian Church would be dissolved, and all local clergy would return to the Patriarch's leadership.

Although the Bulgarian Church had existed for over 1000 years, it had effectively ceased to exist after the Ottoman occupation, only recently being revived. The Ecumenical Patriarch's words greatly alarmed religious figures, leading them to further discourage support for the insurgents. The Bishop of Sofia even secretly left the area.

However, such words did indeed shake the resolve of many, whose support for independence was also driven by their own interests, though a degree of nationalistic sentiment was also involved. And when the once-oppressive Ottoman regime changed its ways, their sense of complacency became a fatal weakness against the insurgents.

In the basement of an abandoned monastery near Gran Tervono, the atmosphere was colder than the dead of winter. A flickering oil lamp illuminated several weary, anxious, and conflicted faces.

"Look! Everyone, look! Autonomy! Provincial council! Bulgarian! They've said almost everything we wanted to say! Wasn't this what we started the uprising for? Now they've given it to us willingly, how much more blood must we shed?"

Ignatiev, one of the local rebel leaders, slammed an Ottoman leaflet onto the table.

“George, you’re too naive! The Ottoman Sultan isn’t a philanthropist; he’s trying to divide us! Look at Bosnia, autonomy? Hmph, everything is under Constantinople’s control! They can give you autonomy today, and take it all back with a single decree tomorrow! Only with complete independence can we control our own destiny!”

Karavilov slumped onto an ammunition box, his eyes vacant. "Independence? What do we have to achieve independence? Christo, can your poetry and ideals stop the Turkish cannons? We've waited two months. Where are the Russians? They're on the other side of the Danube, they can't get across! The Serbs? They can't even take care of themselves! We have no outside help, our ammunition is almost gone, Sofia is surrounded like an iron barrel, and our soldiers are starving every day. We can't hold out much longer."

Currently, they have no external reinforcements and are short of food and ammunition. The occupied territories are falling one by one, and they cannot hold out for long. Burgas, as a port city, was the first to fall due to the Ottoman land and sea attack and internal instability.

"Gentlemen, let's be realistic, Christo! Wasn't our initial goal to end that damned tax farming system and religious oppression? Now the new Sultan has promised those things, and even more! We can retain our language, our church, and manage our own affairs! Isn't that better than turning all of Bulgaria into scorched earth? Are we going to lead those who trust us and follow us in this uprising down to destruction?"

(End of this chapter)